Shalom Lovely Community!

I write this from Hermanus, where this past week we watched whales breaching in the Bay, walked the cliff path in winter sunshine, and spent unhurried time together as a family. We particularly enjoyed the whales – there is something about a creature of that scale rising out of the ocean that leaves you in no doubt about the magnificence of Hashem’s creation (there is, in fact, a brocha to be said on seeing such wonders).

But other moments were just as powerful. We davened with the Hermanus community on Friday night, shared a community dinner, and returned for Shabbat day services, where Aviva gave a shiur during the brocha on Rabbi Sacks’ teachings on the Parasha. One of my favourite things in the world is to arrive somewhere new and find Jews doing Jewish things together, and to be welcomed in, not as strangers but as family they hadn’t met yet.

Our double Parasha speaks to exactly this. In Mattot, the tribes of Reuven and Gad see the beautiful land east of the Jordan and ask to settle there. Moshe’s concern is not the geography, but whether they will remain bound to their people. Only once they commit to standing with their brothers does he agree. You may live at a distance from the centre, the Torah seems to say, but you may never live apart from the community.

That is what I enjoyed in Hermanus: a small community, far from the great centres of Jewish life, and yet the connection is real. Shabbat is celebrated together, Torah is learned, and travellers are given a seat at the table.

The whales declared the Creator’s glory – the community even more so. And I’m looking forward to this Shabbat together as well – a Shabbat of community and song.

Aviva, Shalva, Tzuriya, Azriel, Neriya and I wish you a Shabbat Shalom.

Rabbi Sam Thurgood